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Tidal Falls, Where Memories Rush Back
Fifty years ago,
folks came to
Tidal
Falls
for a lobster dinner and to watch the dramatic reversing tides.
Not much has
changed at the falls today—and that’s the whole idea behind its
revival as a public place.
Since the Frenchman
Bay Conservancy purchased the four-acre spot within sight of the
Hancock-Sullivan Bridge two years ago, the same great food, views
and access to the water have remained open to all.
Children can
scramble across the nearby beach, finding ocean treasures as
kayakers bob and roll in the swift current beyond.
For other visitors,
long-ago memories of the area drift back to mind.
The scenic spot has
become a Downeast-style drive-in known to locals and seasoned
visitors both. It is through their efforts that the site’s character
will continue to be preserved, too.
Barbara Welch,
executive director for the Frenchman Bay Conservancy, said that the
plot by the falls was purchased “to protect the traditional use of
the property.
“People who once
came here with their grandparents and haven’t been back since see
our sign and say, ‘Is that the same place we used to go?’” Welch
said.
When those people
get down to the falls again, she said, you can almost see the
memories come back over them in waves.
The Tidal Falls
restaurant serves giant lobsters—just as it did when the Hodgkins
family owned the lobster pound they founded there in 1950.
The Tidal Falls
site also allows canoers and kayakers access to the ocean rapids.
The conservancy
also owns a 50-acre plot on Little Tunk Pond in Sullivan where
visitors can swim and play on the beach. A third spot at the Salt
Pond on Hancock Point has a hiking trail with spectacular ocean
views.
Each of the
properties, explained Welch, is a place that the community wanted to
see protected and is unique in character. —James J. Allen |
